Too good for Riverwood

It took more than 75 minutes for Oconee County to score its first goal of the Class AAA playoffs.

In the second round on Wednesday, it took less than 20, but the game still wasn't decided until the final 10 minutes.

Katie Miller scored late as Oconee County beat Riverwood 3-2 to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002.

"It will definitely go down as my most memorable goal," Miller said. "The end was just as scary as last time (a 2-0 first-round win over West Hall). We really wanted to make it to the third round, and we didn't want to have to go to PKs."

The winning goal came on a direct kick that was nearly at the half-field line.

Kelley Lyness rocketed a cross to the top of the 18-yard box, and Miller headed it into a defender.

The ball landed at her feet, and she used the side of her foot to push the ball past Riverwood goalkeeper Alyssa Clark with 10:04 left.

Oconee County will travel to No. 4 Columbus on Saturday in the third round. Columbus beat Richmond Hill 3-0 on Wednesday.

Two of Oconee County's goals came on set pieces. All three were started with Lyness.

Lyness connected with Emily Miller on a corner kick. Emily Miller half-volleyed the cross nearly straight up 5 yards away from the goal. The ball went off of Clark's fingertips and grazed the crossbar but ended up in the back of the net.

"We worked on that stuff just the other day. We had gone 60-something corner kicks without a goal," Oconee County coach Paul Dallas said. "We give (Lyness) the opportunity to any of these kicks to veto the play that we call out, and we're not going to say anything."

Lyness made the right choices.

Oconee County extended its lead 10 minutes into the second half on another set play.

The Lady Warriors had a direct kick just outside of the 18-yard box. But instead of shooting, Lyness passed the ball to Lisa Pizarek, who took two touches down the sideline and drove the ball on the ground to the middle.

Samantha Lawson had to slide to catch up to the ball, but the contact she made was enough to give Oconee County a 2-0 lead.

"She passed it to the side, and it made a difference," Dallas said. "It was very refreshing to have the (set pieces) work out."

When the second goal went in, the Lady Raiders immediately turned up their offensive pressure.

The Lady Warriors had a hard time clearing it out of their defensive half of the field. Riverwood had a hard time getting solid shots on goal, but a scramble in the box led to a handball by Meredith Broussard. That led to a Riverwood penalty kick.

Paige Randall kicked the ball right, and Taylor Clarke guessed the wrong way. It was the first time Clarke had been scored on in seven games.

Four minutes later, Lexi Markowitz scored to the game at 2 and set up Katie Miller's heroics.

Both coaches noted that the players elevated their games in the second half.

"I'm very happy with the way we played near the end," Lady Raiders coach Donald Macoy said. "I thought defensively we played pretty well, we just had a few minor breakdowns that hurt us."